Hold Me Till Another Dawn
by Nuklei
Summary: Alex was there one year ago, when the sisters ran off into the night. He saved Beth, but he failed to save her sister. He comes back a year later with the rest of the group, but little did they know that the loss of their friend awakened an ancient evil, and tonight it will hunt again.
1. The Prank

**Hey guys! So, I've been thinking about writing this for a while, and I've finally decided to just do it.**

 **This story will feature an OC, and there will also be some changes made to the story of Until Dawn, that aren't caused by the OC, so watch out for that.**

Alex switched his gaze from Beth, who was currently looking out the window, observing the snowy night, to the kitchen door, as the rest of the group talked in hushed voices outside the room. He knew they were planning something, and in their drunken state, he feared what shenanigans they were up to.

He looked at Josh, and Chris, passed out on the kitchen counter, from drinking too much. He had always been surprised at how much alcohol the two could drink, before finally passing out. They definitely outdrank everybody else in the group. Even dear Mr. Class President, Michael.

„Wasn't it supposed to be just us this weekend?" He heard Beth say, and he looked back to her. She was beautiful, as always. Her dark, brown eyes displayed confusion, as she looked at him. His eyes scanned the window, showing the outside of the lodge, but he saw nothing.

„Yeah, did you see somebody out there?" He asked, concerned. He doubted anyone was out there, but if Beth saw somebody, that could mean trouble. There wasn't supposed to be anyone else up there, just them.

Suddenly, Alex heard footsteps, running outside the door, straight to the main entrance. The footsteps were followed by more, this time though, there were much more of them.

Alex and Beth looked at each other, and it seemed they both thought the same thing. Beth ran over to Josh, while Alex ran over to Chris. The two of them tried waking up the other two, but it seemed like it was no use.

Beth was the first to give up. She ran out, and Alex followed her. Beth took her coat, and put it on as she ran to the entrance of the lodge.

As Alex ran after her, not bothering to search for his coat, since he had last put it in the bathroom. He saw everybody standing in front of the building, yelling out into the cold night.

„It was just a prank, Han'!" Emily yelled out in an uncaring voice. Alex stopped dead in his tracks as he heard this. He should have known they would pull a prank of some sort, but for Hannah to appearently just run out into the woods on this snowy, freezing night, it must have been one hell of a 'prank'.

Beth ran out the door.

„What did you do?!" She asked, sounding incredibly pissed off. _Rightfully so._ He thought, they honestly deserved being yelled at, and a whole lot more.

„We were just messing around, Beth.. It wasn't serious-" Mike tried to tell her, but she wouldn't have any of it.

„You jerks!" She yelled as she started running for the woods. Alex ran out after her.

„Alex, stop!" He heard Sam call out after him, but he couldn't. He couldn't stop, not when his girlfriend and her sister had just run out of the lodge, into the cold, dangerous woods of Blackwood Mountain.

 **ALEX**

 **PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:**

 **Age: 17**

 **Height: 5'11**

 **Hair: Short, Dark Blonde**

 **Eyes: Dark Green**

 **Light Skin**

 **CHARACTER TRAITS:**

 **Honest: 8/10**

 **Charitable: 7/10**

 **Funny: 5/10**

 **Brave: 6/10**

 **Romantic: 7/10**

 **Curious: 4/10**

 **RELATIONSHIP STATUS:**

 **Beth: 10/10**

 **Ashley: 9/10**

 **Chris: 6/10**

 **Emily: 4/10**

 **Hannah: 7/10**

 **Jess: 5/10**

 **Josh: 7/10**

 **Matt: 5/10**

 **Mike: 4/10**

 **Sam: 6/10**

 **OBJECTIVE:**

 **Get Beth and Hannah back to the Lodge.**

„Beth!" He yelled out to her as he ran through the forest, seeing Beth running ahead of him, about to reach some kind of small drop. He picked up his speed, and was only a short distance away from her, when she suddenly jumped down. She didn't seem to notice him behind her as she ran.

Alex jumped down from the wooden platform, landing on the ground with a soft 'thud'. He started running after Beth again, trying to catch up to her. He was fast, in fact, he was one of the fastest guys in the whole school, but out here, everytime he came close to Beth, something happened to keep them apart.

At one point, he had to stop running for what felt like way too long to pick her trail up again, because of some stupid animals confusing him. He hoped that the distraction didn't slow him down too much, however, when he heard a scream.

It didn't sound human. It didn't sound like any animal he had ever heard, it was high-pitched, ear piercing. It sounded like it was in pain, that much he could tell.

He didn't know what the source of it was, but that would soon change. Alex stopped when he reached a cliff.

He gasped in horror at the sight. There was some kind of tall, thin creature walking to the edge of the cliff, where he could see a man, wearing some kind of mask, holding a flamethrower. The man began spraying the horrible creature with fire, as Alex heard a voice, that sounded strangely similar to Beth's, calling out for help

He ran to the edge of the cliff, careful not to get anywhere near man and creature, and he looked down. There, he saw Beth holding onto a tree branch, her eyes shut, with tears falling from her eyes.

„Beth! Oh, thank god you're ok!" He called out to her, relieved to see her, seemingly unhurt.

Her eyes opened when she heard him, and she looked up at him, relief washing over her.

She reached her free hand out, and he grabbed it, just as the branch she was holding onto snapped. Alex almost fell, but he caught himself, and he pulled her up as fast as he could.

Beth put her hands on the ground and breathed heavily. She looked up at Alex, and saw him looking at the creature. It was looking at them with a look of pure anger, and hatred. Before the creature could do anything to them, though, The Stranger resumed attacking it, unleashing flames of fire at the ungodly sight before them.

„Run, get the hell out of here!" The Man yelled out to them, and they did not hesitate to obey him. They ran as fast as they could, sprinting out of there, back in the direction of the lodge.

Only when they were far enough that they could only hear the screams of the creature, did they stop to catch their breath. Beth launched herself in Alex's arms, and began explaining what had happened before he reached her.

 _Beth pulled Hannah along as they ran. She just hoped they wouldn't reach a dead end, and that they could get back to the lodge, back to safety._

 _Her hopes, however, were shattered when they reached a cliff. There was no way out of here, except the one they had come from. That was off limits, though, as Beth turned and almost screamed when she saw some kind of creature, jumping out from the forest. It stared at them as they slowly backed up._

 _The next few seconds were a blur to Beth. She saw a man, running out of the forest, and she was pulled down. Hannah had backed up way too much, slipping from the edge of the cliff._

 _Before they could both fall to their deaths, Beth grabbed a branch that was underneath the edge, and she held on for as long as she could._

 _Beth looked down at her sister in tears, and saw her sister's face, she was afraid, terrified of what was happening._

„ _It'll be okay, Hannah! We'll get out of this, both of us!" She yelled out to her sister, who shook her head._

„ _No, Beth! We'll both fall, Y- You.. You have to let me go!" Hannah pleaded with her sister, who stared back in horror, unable to say a word „Please, Beth! I don't want to d- die, but you can't hold both of us!"_

 _Beth was horrified. She couldn't lose her sister, she couldn't just let her fall. She shook her head._

„ _No! I won't let you die, Hannah!"_

 _Hannah shook her head again, and she began to loosen her grip on Beth's wrist. Beth tried to get a hold of Hannah, but she couldn't, and she could only scream as the tips of Hannah's fingers brushed against her own, and Hannah fell from her grasp._

As Alex listened to Beth, tears began to fall from his eyes, and when Beth finished, he was full on crying.

„ _It's all my fault! I didn't reach them in time.. I should have stopped this goddamn 'prank' before it even started!"_

But he didn't have time to think about that, because he suddenly began to feel the familiar effects of adrenaline wearing off, and appearently, so did Beth. He felt her slump in his arms.

„ _Shit! She probably passed out from the cold!"_ He thought to himself, as he pulled her up into his arms, and began to run as fast as he could, while carrying Beth.

His head was starting to spin, his vision slightly blurring. The cold was getting to him, and the two of them would surely die out here, if he didn't get back to the lodge.

He made his way through the thick forest, trying to follow his own footprints in the snow, until he could finally see the faint outline of the Washington Lodge. He was staggering now, struggling to keep moving.

If he didn't make it, that would mean that Hannah's sacrifice would be in vain, it would be for nothing.

He told himself this, as his mind fought for consciousness. There was so much snow, he thought he would trip, fall, and lose any chance of survival. The lodge was so close now, that he could see two figures standing at the front door, wearing thick jackets, waiting for the.. three.. of them to get back.

He somehow managed to make his way to the front door of the lodge, where Sam, and Chris waited.

Chris was surprisingly full of energy, even though only a few minutes ago, he had been passed out in the kitchen, with Josh.

Probably an effect of fear, and concern for him and the twins. The moment Alex was near enough for the two to see him, their looks of concern changed to those of horror, as they saw him carrying an unconscious Beth in his arms, his skin deathly pale.

„What the hell happened?!" Chris asked as Alex ran inside the lodge, trying to get to the living room, where the fireplace was, as fast as possible. He ran into the room, and seeing the fireplace lit, he hurriedly laid Beth down on the couch.

Alex slumped down on the floor, next to the couch, as he heard everybody rush into the room, asking him where Hannah was, and what happened to him and Beth.

He wanted to answer them. He wanted so hard, to tell everybody that Hannah was out there, that there was still a small chance that she could be alive. However, he began to feel his consciousness slip away, and he fought against it.

He tried as hard as he could to speak, but only incoherent sounds came out of his mouth. Finally, the last bit of consciousness he had left slipped away completely, and his vision turned to black.

 _~Until We Meet Again~_

He awoke a few hours later, and he could see that he was now in his upstairs bedroom. At first, he couldn't quite remember what had happened before he passed out, just that he had felt panic. Slowly, the memories returned to him.

He got up from his bed immediately, and ran out of his room. The hall was buzzing with sound from downstairs, and talking could be heard. Alex, however, didn't care what was going on downstairs, he needed to check on Beth, he just hoped that she was in her room.

He made his way over to Beth's room. When he reached it, he softly knocked on it. When the door didn't open, he felt panic wash over him, and he was about to turn and run downstairs, when the door shot open.

Beth was standing there, looking confused. When their eyes locked, relief washed over her face. She hugged him tightly, sobbing a little. He hugged her back, relieved to see that she was okay.

They stayed that way for several moments, until Beth finally broke the hug, and looked at the ground sadly.

„Hannah.. She's g- gone." She stuttered out, looking at the ground, tears threatening to fall out of her eyes.

„I know.. I'm so, so sorry Beth." He replied back, feeling furious at himself for not being able to get to them in time, not being able to save Hannah. Beth looked back at him in shock.

„Alex, it's not your fault! You couldn't have possibly gotten to us faster than you had. You saved me!" Beth told him, trying to get him to realize that he wasn't responsible for what happened.

Alex pulled Beth into another hug, and they stayed that way, standing in the hall until the talking downstairs decreased into only a few words, and eventually, all of the sounds stopped completely, leaving the lodge in a solemn silence.

The two had just gone through a horrible experience, one that nobody should ever have to go through. Beth had lost her sister. There was, of course, still a chance that Hannah was alive, but it was slim.

After what felt like hours, the two broke apart, and walked downstairs. They both knew that Beth was holding her sadness, and anguish in, and most likely break down later, but before that happened, they had to see the others.

The group was there. They could see some Police Officers outside, probably waiting for the two of them to wake up, and tell them what had happened.

Josh was the first to see them, and when he did, he ran over and hugged Beth, and he refused to let her go. Alex walked over to the rest of the group, who apologized profusely for the 'prank' that they had pulled.

But, Alex didn't blame them. True, they had humiliated Hannah, and it caused her to run out of the lodge, but it wasn't their intention for Hannah to do that, and Alex didn't think they should be blamed for it.

The Police Officers came in, and asked Beth and Alex questions on what had happened to them in the forest.

The two of them didn't mention the creature they had seen, they both knew they would sound like lunatics. They made up a story on how they were attacked by a bear, and thankfully, the officers seemed to believe them.

They told the police officers that Hannah had fallen into the mines, and they had sent out a search party for her.

The only thing they found was a trail of blood leading from where Hannah had fallen, away, into the mines.


	2. The Year After

**Hello, readers! So, sorry for taking so freaking long to update this story, I guess I just completely forgot! But, I hope that this chapter will make up for that gigantic pause in updates!**

 **One thing I do want to mention is that in this fic, Mike and Em's break-up was a more peaceful one, so the characters won't be seperated for too long.**

Alex took off his jacket and put it on the hanger next to the door. Beth did the same, and when Alex closed the door, they both continued into the main room of the lodge.

It had been a year since the incident, and Josh had decided to call everyone up to the lodge again. He had seemed pretty enthusiastic about it in the video that he had sent to all of them, although they all knew he was taking the loss of his sister the hardest out of them all.

Sure, she was Sam's best friend, and Beth's older sister, but she was Josh's younger sister, one that he had sworn to take care of, and now, he had failed her. Alex told Josh numerous times that if he really wanted to blame someone, to blame him, but Josh was too much of a good guy to do that. He wouldn't blame Alex, because at least the guy tried, hell, he had saved his other sister, which Josh was still grateful for to that day.

And, speaking of, he could hear Josh talking with Mike and Matt about getting the fire started. Alex walked into the room, and immediately, he saw a couple of things he had not expected to see.

First, Matt and Emily were sitting together on the couch, holding each other close as Emily shook because of the cold from the outside.

Then, he saw Mike and Jessica sitting right next to them, and all of them actually getting along.

"Josh, how long 'till you get the fire going? We're freezing over here!" She called out to Josh, who was currently trying to start the fire.

"Hey, Lovebirds!" Ashley greeted them as they entered the room, waving at them.

They talked for a while, catching up on things that had happened over the last few months. Even though most of the people in the room were responsible for the horrible prank that took place the year before, Alex still felt good around them.

He didn't blame them. After all, it's not like they intended to make Hannah run out into the cold of Blackwood Mountain, completely at the mercy of whatever awaited her. There had been quite a bit of hostility at first, but over time, the wound of last year had healed almost completely.

After a few months, however, they hadn't really talked anymore. It had been at least 4 months since they had all met each other in real life, and not just talked over Skype calls. Alex missed talking to them a lot, so it was good to finally be back with his friends, all of which felt horrible about the 'prank' they had pulled last year. Even Beth seemed happy to talk to them again, seeing as her smile never left her face once, even when she started a conversation with Mike, Em, and Jess, the ones who first thought of the prank.

"Alright, Peanut Gallery. You know what? I got an idea for you two." Josh loudly exclaimed, talking to Ash and Chris.

"What?" Ashley responded, sounding interested in what Josh had come up with.

"Okay, well I am pretty sure, that somewhere in this crazy place, we used to have... a spirit board."

"Hey, Josh. No hot water's kinda major oversight, doncha' think?" Sam suddenly said, walking down the stairs.

"Yeah, yeah. Just gotta fire up the boiler, it's in the basement. You guys see if you can find the spirit board." Josh responded, walking toward Sam from the fireplace.

Alex decided to go with Josh and Sam, who volunteered to go turn on the boiler. Beth stayed in the main room with everyone else, telling Alex that the basement was too 'moldy' for her.

 _'Yeah, right. She's probably just terrified at the thought of being alone with me in a dark room.'_ He thought to himself, as a cheeky grin appeared on his face. _'Then again, Josh and Sam are tagging along too. Well, they wouldn't be that hard to get rid of, considering the tension constantly between them. Man, they need to bang already.'_

Just before the door shut behind them, he could Emily mutter something about how Chris and Ashley together, alone and separate from everyone else, would be the perfect opportunity for the pair to, as she wisely put it 'Admit their undying love for one another'.

Alex snickered as the door finally closed behind them, and darkness took over. They walked for a while, stopping to pick up a flashlight, before resuming their treck down.

He could hear Josh and Sam talking in front of him, but he didn't get closer. Wanting to give them as much space as he could, he focused on his thoughts.

Last year, when they had gotten to the lodge after a hike full of groaning and complaining, they had gone to turn on the boiler too, but it had been a lot different back then.

 _They walked to the boiler, Mike telling jokes along the way, making all of them laugh hysterically. Mike's jokes were always the best. It seemed the guy always knew how to cheer everyone up._

 _If it hadn't been for Mike's antics, Alex would have probably been scared shitless by the dark basement, but with his friends there, and a great source for laughter, it actually seemed like a really fun time._

Oh, what he'd give to have those days back. But, except for the obvious absence of Hannah, it wasn't actually so bad at the moment.

Just a couple of teens, up on a mountain with only a single way off, one year after one of them fell off a cliff, and disappeared off the face of the Earth.

Yep, totally normal.

* * *

Alex ran up the stairs, trying to get out of the basement as fast as possible. He could hear Josh and Sam running behind him, but he was too focused on escaping to turn back and see how far away they were.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he reached the door to the basement.

The _locked_ door to the basement.

 _'Oh, come the fuck on! Are you serious?'_

Suddenly, Josh pushed him to the side, and ran to the door, only to also realize it was locked.

Alex looked back down the stairs, and almost screamed when he saw the cloaked figure running up them. He ran over to Josh and Sam, and when he turned back around, the figure was now at the top of the stairs.

"Oh, come on! Why are these doors locked!" Sam frantically asked, trying to get the door to open.

"T- to keep out Strangers!" Josh responded, stuttering as he looked back in fear, shielding Sam with his body.

"Ey.. Eyyy!" The figure stood there, repeating the same thing over and over as realization dawned on the faces of the other three.

"What.. What the hell?!" Sam yelled as she slowly realized what was happening, anger evident on her face.

"Boom, you just got monked!" The figure took off its hood, revealing Chris, mocking Sam with his words.

"Nice one, that was good!" Josh laughed.

"Yeah!" Alex added, laughing as his previous fear disappeared. To be fair, he did still feel like punching the guy, just to beat some sense into him for next time, but he had to admit that the joke was good.

"Wh- What? But, why would you do that!?" Sam asked, stepping forward, looking like she was about to straight up murder the poor guy.

"There's all this cool movie crap down here, what was I supposed to do? Was I not supposed to take advantage of the opportunity?" Chris retorted, chuckling as he gestured down the stairs.

"Are you- Are you serious?" She asked, looking at Josh and Alex "Were you in on this, guys?"

"No, but I wish I was! That was too good!" Josh answered, high-fiving his best friend. Sam looked at Alex, who just shook his head, grinning.

Chris unlocked the door, walking out as Sam and Alex followed, and Josh locked the door behind them.

"I'm ready to admit that your dumb little prank, may have had a slight whiff of humor to it." Sam admitted as they walked back into the main room.

"Jokemaster!" Chris pronounced, proud that Sam finally accepted his status.

"Whoa, whoa!" Sam said, backtracking. "I said nothing about jokes! I said your prank, which was dumb-"

"Holy crap, you were scared. Admit it!" Josh laughed as he put the flashlight back, shutting it off before moving to catch up with the others.

"How'd it go?" Matt asked, looking at all of them, and raising an eyebrow when he saw the strangely dressed Chris.

"Could have lived without having to run from a cloak-wearing hockey player." Alex responded light-heartedly, trying to lighten the mood of their other blonde companion, who looked like she would murder Chris any second now.

"What in god's name, are you wearing?" Ashley asked, after seeing Chris.

"I.. found my true calling." Chris said back, making a cross-motion with his hands.

"Please tell me you'll take a vow of silence." She told him, her eyes pleading with him to listen to her and be quiet for once.

Chris began to move his mouth without talking, making most of them burst out in laughter.

"Okay, okay... Did you at least find the.. Thingy?" She asked, trying to get to the heart of the conversation.

Chris pulled the Oujia board out of his cloak and made a cliché 'bo-oi-oi-oing" sound effect as he did so.

"Here's our one-way ticket to the spirit realm!"

"You know what? You know what? No! I've just been through enough spooking for one night, okay? I see a hot bath in my crystal ball!" Sam piped up, clearly frustrated with the night's events so far.

"Alright? So have fun! Oh, but watch out for that Josh. He's a schemer! " She finished and began walking up the stairs.

"Okay!" Josh responded, chuckling at Sam's words.

"Okay, so I think I'll miss out on the ghost-party, guys. I'm not one to fuck with this type of thing." Alex said, hoping to stay clear.

The others all agreed with Alex, but before the three ghost-annoyers walked away, Josh turned around.

"Hey, anybody wanna volunteer to go turn on the generator? It's a bit dark up here, so it'd be pretty neat, ya' know?"

Mike and Jess volunteered and said that they'd even go to the guest cabin a few ways from the Lodge.

After giving them the keys and talking to them a bit, Josh returned inside and left with Chris and Ashley to go use the Ouija Board.

Alex turned back around, to face the rest of the group. It was him, Beth, Emily, and Matt left.

"So, what do we do now?"

* * *

Okay, so it was him and Beth left. Turns out Matt forgot one of Emily's bags outside.

Alex looked at Beth as the other two left the Lodge to go search for the bag.

"Well.. What do we do now?"

"I don't know."

 _'Well, that gives me an opening. Now where did I put those con-'_

".. You Wanna play Hide and Seek?"

 _'Oh, come_ _on!'_


End file.
